The Panthers came up with a victory they desperately needed Tuesday night when the knocked off No. 19 Georgetown, 73-45, at the Verizon Center. The win came on the heels of two losses to Cincinnati and Rutgers to open Big East play.

Pitt (13-3, 1-2) beat Georgetown for the 12th time in the past 18 meetings. The Panthers won seven of their final nine games against the Hoyas at the Verizon Center. This was the final scheduled game in the series because Pitt is moving to the ACC next season.

The 28-point margin of victory was the second-largest for Pitt in a Big East game. The largest was a 30-point victory at DePaul in 2011.

It was the most-lopsided home loss for Georgetown since a 40-point loss to St. John’s in the 1971-72 season.

“It’s embarrassing,” Georgetown coach John Thompson III said. “It was very disappointing. I know this isn’t who we are, but tonight was very disappointing.”

It was Pitt’s most complete game this year. They played hard in both halfs. They played defense. They took care of the ball. They worked it around on offense.

When trying to think where to begin, it seems the end of the first half would be a good place.

Pitt was finishing the half strong. They weren’t having a last minute let down on defense just because they were up by double digits. They even pushed it to a 15 point lead when Georgetown had the final possession. The Panthers wanted to deny Georgetown anything.

That was just what Pitt did. Steven Adams stuffed Jabril Trawik on a drive, and then Tray Woodall out-hustled, and out-toughed him corralling the rebound. Trawik was all over Woodall, but Woodall still saw and got the ball out and the ball reached Cam Wright nearly alone going to the basket as the clocked neared zero. We saw a Hoya player holding onto Wright’s off-arm to slow him down. No call, and the shot didn’t get off before time expired.

Then we look back to see Woodall lying on the ground. Replays showed how Trawik, after Woodall got rid of the ball, raised his elbow high and then swung it at Woodall’s face as he “turned” to go upcourt. It caught Woodall in the throat/neck.

The Karl Hess-led officiating crew that had called everything in the first half missed both calls. Worse, they spent five minutes reviewing the clear flagrant 1 foul, decided that it was a “basketball play.” Somehow, it was just an accident.

That may have been the best thing for this Pitt team.

They were back in the locker room by the time the word was finally given that there would be no foul shots. Pitt was called for ten fouls in a very tightly called half (to Georgetown’s seven). The senior leader was leveled by an elbow. Wright was clearly being dragged by his off-hand heading to the basket. Yet the officials saw nothing. Twice. If Pitt wanted this game, they had to make sure that no one else would decide it.

You saw it in their faces when they came out after the half, and the camera showed the players shooting around before the buzzer to start the second half with a fifteen point lead. Woodall had a stone look on his face. The rest of the team was business. No joking. No relaxing.

And they dismantled Georgetown in the second half. Woodall didn’t try to take it at the Georgetown team alone. No one did. As a team, they just broke Georgetown.

“It feels great,” said Pitt senior point guard Tray Woodall, who finished with 11 points, seven assists and four rebounds in 32 minutes. “It‘s our last time here against them. I‘m glad we did it the way we did.”

It was the first conference victory for Pitt (13-3, 1-2), which had lost back-to-back Big East games to Cincinnati and Rutgers, and the 28-point margin represented the Panthers‘ most lopsided victory in 55 Big East games against the Hoyas (10-3, 0-2). It was Georgetown‘s largest margin of defeat since a 104-71 loss to Maryland on Dec. 10, 1974, its worst home defeat since a 107-67 loss to St. John‘s on Dec. 7, 1971 and ranks as the third-largest margin of defeat in any home game in Georgetown history.

“I‘m very proud of our guys and how they responded to a disappointing start for us,” said Pitt coach Jamie Dixon, whose Panthers spent the weekend here after the Rutgers game. “I know how good of a team Georgetown is, so it means more. … They‘re one of the best programs in the country. We‘ve had a great rivalry, a great tradition. They‘re a great program with a great coach and great players.”

Made the Hoyas look slow, sloppy, desperate. Tentative to shoot. And it all started on the defense. They made the plays there, they had more opportunities on offense.

The difference for the Panthers, according to Woodall, came on the defensive end of the floor, where they “wanted to come out and be the aggressor.” Cut down open looks on the perimeter, pressure ball-handlers in the half court and attack the defensive glass. Pitt did just that, as Georgetown — an admittedly awful offensive team right now — never got into anything close to a rhythm on that end of the floor.

“I think our guys are recognizing what we’ve been trying to get across to them defensively,” Dixon said.

But the key to the game had much more to do with Georgetown’s defense than Pitt’s, as the Panthers absolutely shredded what had been one of the stingiest groups in the country coming into the game. Pitt was able to get penetration from Woodall and James Robinson, they knocked down their open threes and they got to the offensive glass. While their total number of points may not be all that impressive, it is when you consider that they put up 73 points in 59 possessions — or 1.237 PPP — against a team that, even with Tuesday’s hideous performance factored in, is allowing just 0.871 PPP on the season.

Pitt thoroughly humiliated a good Georgetown team on the road in a game that they really needed to win.

That’s what good teams do. And that’s how good teams handle adversity.

“I’m proud of our guys,” Dixon said, “and how we responded to a disappointing start.”

Game reminded me of old days. Grown trying to turn game into street fight and Pitt outplaying them.
Thompsons first half offense looked more like football, put down head and go for the middle.
Zanna looks better every game. Adams showing life. My biggest concern is ball handling at guard after first two, wright and Ziggler look over matched against pressure, but this team can be special.

So glad I turned on the game last night, after the fiasco on Saturday I was a bit wary. (luckily for me, I had a conference call to attend and the game was a great way to spend time while listening in)

I think what impressed me what the ability of team to pull it together and MAKE BASKETS, even during pre-big east there was sometimes that maddening shoot and miss process in which the panthers stuttered and threw off and momentum they had if they didn’t rebound properly.

Like I was saying there was no need to panic. Pitt is one of the most efficitent offensive teams in the nation, the shots just weren’t falling for whatever reason against Rutgers and Cinci. At the begining of the season I said the team is going to get better as Adams gets better and will be much improved by March. Looks like Pitt is right on track for that prediction.

Great game last night. That is how to end a series when leaving a conference. Just a TOTAL DESTRUCTION of one of my all-time most hated schools. (in the BE #1 for sure, although Villimanilli is closely behind)

And if that wasn’t enough, the old man, John (big mouth) Thompson had to endure the WHOLE THING !

This team is the deepest and potentially most talented team in the Dixon era. They are young at some key spots and will need to continue to develop at a rapid pace. But the ceiling is high.

Last night proved that when they’re attacking, aggressive, they can beat anyone. But when they’re passive, tentative, they can be beaten by anyone (Rutgers, almost Oakland).

My concern is that their personality seems to be “go with the flow”. When things are going well, when they are knocking down shots, the other team is missing, they can get it going.

But their MO has been play a good half then get careful and lose (Michigan and Cinci). Or come out flat and have to fight to come back (Rutgers and Oakland).

“I’d rather have to say ‘whoa’ than ‘sic ‘em,’ but we have to say whoa.” – Mike Tomlin

My fear is that with this Pitt team, Jamie needs to constantly say “Sic ‘em”.

There just doesn’t seem to be that alpha dog, team leader, who would be glad to step on your throat after he’s knocked you down. Someone like Wanamaker, Blair or even Fields. Certainly, Brandin Knight was one of those guys. Someone who will grab his teammates by the shirt and say “come on, we got this!” and then go out on the court and do it.

We’re in for some inconsistent play until this team figures it out and/or someone steps up to be that alpha dog, which is not likely, those guys are born not made.

Woodall is the logical choice. He is a fifth year senior, he is leading the team in minutes, he has overcome a lot in his life, and he’s a winner. So far he hasn’t done it and maybe he’s just not a good enough player to earn the respect necessary or maybe that’s just not his personality. But this team’s success will be, in part, determined by how well he (or someone else) leads.

Based on what I saw in Greentree, I wrongly thought it was going to be Zeigler. He is tough, the others (Adams, Robinson, Patterson, Zanna) followed him around like puppies. For whatever reason, he has not been able to focus his aggressiveness and athleticism to the Pitt structured offense. If he figures it out, look out.

Keller is a 4 star on Rivals, number 2 QB in the nation on Scout, with offers from USC and Stanford So I don’t care who he is related to even if it was Steve Pederson.

From a scout: “Chryst is the best West quarterback I’ve seen in the 2014 class so far as he greatly impressed me at the Oakland Elite 11 this past spring. He has also been impressive on film, showing off a strong arm that can accurately throw the deep ball. He’s good in three or five-step drops, (it) doesn’t look down his receivers and just seems to have a lot of comfort sitting in the pocket and picking apart defenses.”

It was nice to see them play a complete ballgame. We just need to them play like that more consistantly. It’s a tough league and the next game is against Marquette. Hopefully it’s a sign of things to come.

Early in the game, Adams was mixing it up pretty heavy with the G’Town big white guy and it was intense. I was hoping Adams would break out into a brawl to get that beast inside him to show itself.
Well I didn’t get the brawl, but I got some of the beast. The difference will always come down to stats, especially the score. But showing some heart and a mean streak is what makes the diiference. Really, a 10 point game is nothing more than 3 stops on D and 3 scores on O.
I want to see mean players against the Warriors this weekend (sorry, that is the name they had when I came of age and that is what I call them now).
I did not see last night coming. Neither did G’Town apparantly.
The Warriors will be ready.
Will we?

After last night, i like our chances against Marquette. Playing at home helps, of course.

But maybe more importantly, MU is short (only 1 guy over 6’8″) but quick. We should (SHOULD) dominate the boards. So long as our back court can play solid D, its a win. Our outside shooting can falter so long as we’re pulling in boards (again we should) and Adams, Zanna and even Taylor and Moore should do fine defending their bigs.

A win over MU would be a nice re-boot of the BE season. ‘Nova looks like a poor man’s Marquette so should (SHOULD) also be a likely win. After Rutger’s there are no gimme’s but it would be great to have a healthy conference winning percentage before the L’Ville then ‘Cuse buzz saw mid-season. We need the confidence and really want to be entrenched in the selection committee’s mind as one of the top tier (top 4-5) BE teams by them.

Last note, Zeigler isn’t ready for prime time. After last year, many were probably felt desperate for offensive weapons so rushed to get him eligible, but in hindsight we dont even need what we hoped would be his offensive output yet so may have been better had he not qualified and post-poned his Pitt career a year while getting used to the system and players.

missing sentence – guard oriented teams historically give us problems, but usually only when they either have at least some presence down low or the guards are all-Big east caliber (MU and ‘Nova teams of old). So its not a gimme, but we can put our best and quickest defenders out there in liue of efficient offensive players. That is C. Wright will have a big role, Moore a little more up top, and maybe less Woodall (he’s just a bit short and slow laterally) having he and Robinson sub for each other rather than out there together.

I did not see that coming last night, not in that fashion, and I think it was an overall awesome performance. Intensity and effort and execution were all on point. It is funny, of course, what a difference hitting a few shots early can make — everything seems to go from there.

That said, I really think Georgetown was a PERFECT matchup for Pitt — very little quickness and athleticism especially on the perimeter, which is what both Cincy and Rutgers offered. Marquette will be an intriguing test — not only has Pitt historically struggled against them, but they offer much more quickness and athleticism. Let’s hope to keep it rolling!

Panther P I think you touched on one of the biggest things for me, and it is the inability to defend quickness. I actually think playing against bigger opponents behooves us…the slower things are going, the better.

Our guards struggle with staying in front of the dribble, but with the big fellas we have down low slowing others’ bigs down a bit, they can be effective swiping for steals and getting out and running. I also think it helps our rebounding playing big teams because we aren’t out of rebounding position with our bigs helping off onto driving guards that have blown by our guards.

Kind of counterintuitive but I feel like the bigger the team, the better we match up both on the boards and in transition. At least that is what it looked like last night.

Last night was very encouraging but I still think this team can do way better.Adams and Zanna need to become the focus of our offense. We are wasting them on screens for guards to release them outside without any penetration as a result.Force the ball inside by over the top passing and quit making Adams run out front for nothing.Establish dominant intreior positions and make our opponents defend the interior and the guards won’t have to fight off two defenders outside all the time.This kid can get us deep come March with continued improvemant and Zanna is a once in a generation type garbage cleanup man. There are not 5 teams in college hoops today with more inside potential than Pitt.Adams is way too unselfish and although it is nice to see the attitude it isn’t good basketball.I saw our guards miss 3 inside drives last night when all they needed to do was “hand” the ball to Adams for an easy dunk.It was so great to see Zanna shooting jump shots again,why isn’t he getting twice that many attempts?Did you see Adams throw up a turd of a hook shot,and Zanna gets a dunk?One big man is nice but two in unison is way more effective. This will make our guards look like heroes when they are left unattended outside.Thatb wasn’t Kennesaw St. we beat to a pulp last night but it wasn’t Louisville either.We need to continue to improve from here and the potential on this team is development of interior offense.That needs to be this teams focus and it was never more obvious than the last 3 games.

Team got a lot of hoops underneath the basket last night, because they quickly moved it up the court when the opportunity was there. BEFORE G-TOWN’S DEFENSE HAD THE CHANCE TO SETUP AND DIG IN.

That one sequence when after a G-Town miss, Woodie got the ball near mid-court, took a few dribbles, saw Adams on the right side and made the perfect pass for a slam. That is how Adams speed (compared to other Centers) needs to used.
Let him beat the opposing Center up the court, let him use his speed & athleticism which is unique for a 7 footer to our advantage. Slowing down the game into a sluggish halfcourt offense is something you have to do when you have a big slow center, who can’t run. We don’t, therefore we shouldn’t.

Attack, attack and attack the rim some more

Only good things can happen. Numbers advantage can give you Easy bunny’s, tip ins off of misses, slam dunks that can really give you some momentum, fouls on the opponent that over the course of the game, get their better, bigger players OUT OF THE GAME or limit their effectiveness, for having to play more passive with 3 or 4 fouls. Like last night both of G-Town’s 6-8 players (Otto Porter and Whittington)both had 4 fouls last night. Shots around the rim are alot easier to make as well and verified last night with Pitt shooting 55%.

They were all attacking the rim, which then in turn led to some easy open 3 point looks as well.
Pitt was 5-8 from 3 (62%)last night and from what I remember most were not challenged.

I will temper this a little in that when you have a double digit lead and don’t feel threatened, the shots fall easier, as there’s not much pressure on you. We will get a better gauge of this group with another road game this Sat. at Marquette. And this isn’t exactly a road venue we’ve had a whole lot of success compared to the Verizon Center over the last 10 years.

If we keep attacking the rim and playing aggressive I think we win, if we don’t we won’t.

On the defensive side Adams makes so much difference in the middle.Zanna and Adams should be blocking at least 5 shots a game in tandem.We were more aggressive last night but I think It is about time we kick it up another notch as I can’t recall anybody fouling out all year.Remember when Krauser almost popped a guys eye out? I don’t want to see anyone get hurt but I do like the intimidation factor and the swagger those teams had.We have four capable guards let’s use them rather than find them minutes.Dante Taylor should get a minimum of 4 hard fouls a game.this will help us rebound down the stretch off of fatigue.

I’m all for hurting the other team. If you’re going to foul, foul hard. Be tough and intimidate. Other teams need to understand if their guards blow past our guards (and they will), there are two big trees inside to punish you.

Totally agree on getting Adams more touches. He is still rough offensively, admittedly. But getting him more touches does three really good things:

1) Gets him involved the offense and active on both ends. If he is actively looking for the ball, he becomes a threat and the other team has to respond. Which….

2) Opens things up for others. He is a really good passer. When teams collapse, he can find the open man for easy shots.

3) Allows Pitt to rebound his misses. Good shots, when missed, lead to manageable rebounds. He missed a couple easy ones last night and in both cases Pitt got the offensive rebound. The rebounds won’t lead to fast breaks for the other team.

Pitt can live with the growing pains of some missed shots inside while he gets better. Even if he doesn’t score a ton, getting him the ball a lot will help.

Bcar, We need more touches for Zanna too, he should be scoring 25 a game not 15.This kid is a strong 6’10” with a nice midrange jumper who makes his fouls.He can’t dribble and doesn’t do well with passes below the waste but set him a screen from 15 to 18 feet and he’ll make 65%.make them defend Zanna and who is gonna watch Adams?The two together are very hard to stop and that isn’t true of anyone else on our team offensively except Johnson looks like he might be an excelent 3 point option.JJ Moore needs to lose that 6 shooter routine until he really does something by the way and I could live without Woodall ever shooting again.He does so much better when he fakes the shot and distributes.

Bcar, Have you seen Marquette play this year?I think this is one of the more beatable Marquette teams in recent memory.I would be extremely disappointed if we don’t win and expect this game will look a lot more like Gtown than Cincinatti.

Enjoy my friends: (we also featured in Yahoo’s NCAAB column, The Dagger)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Pittsburgh made a final visit to Georgetown as a member of the Big East and did everything but steal the mascot, handing the Hoyas their worst loss in nearly four decades.

The Panthers routed the 19th-ranked Hoyas 73-45 on Tuesday night, a beatdown so thorough that the soundtrack for most of it was the constant chants of ”Let’s go, Pitt!” from visitors in a conference foe’s building.

2. In addition to the destruction of traditional rivalries, conference realignment has also sparked some new hostilities among fan bases. Exhibit A: This “Traitors and Liars Will Not Be Missed” banner Georgetown fans held up during the Pitt game Tuesday night. The sign was meant to be a jab at the way the Panthers left the Big East for the ACC, though Panthers fans will be quick to note that Georgetown orchestrated the departure of the Catholic 7 last month, driving the final stake into the Big East’s heart.

Georgetown does not stink, they are still ranked #19 and have beaten…..

then #13 UCLA (12-3) who just beat #7 Missouri, routed Texas by 23 points and as you noted lost to then #1 Indiana but that game went into OVERTIME !

Also so much for the theory that a tough non-con makes you tougher for conf play.
G-Town played #1 Indiana, UCLA, Texas and Tennessee in the non-con, didn’t appear to help them much last night. Did it !

E-mel, how are ya brother? Actually, I kind of like it!!! LOL You could bet SSS would outlaw anyone in the zoo even attempting to put up a sign like that in the Pete in the name of political correctness!!!

In full, preprogrammed robot voice “please take that sign down, please remain full of class, please cheer only when we score, please cheer for the other team, please cheer for the other teams fans”.

By the way, was it Triple “S” or the band director who decided to shorten the fight song, so fans and students couldn’t chant “Penn St. Sucks” back in the 90’s???

Spirit – must admit I haven’t seen a ton of Marquette basketball this year, a little bit of the Wisconsin game and most of the UConn game on New Year’s day.

I do know they are not nearly as good as some previous Marquette teams, especially inside. Most of their scoring comes from their backcourt. They start three gaurds who play a ton of minutes, Vander Blue, Coudigan (sp?) and another guy. The guards are good enough to give pitt problems.

If I were Jamie (and I am not), I would start Wright instead of Patterson for defensive purposes. Patterson is going to really struggle to defend their third guard, too slow. I would bring him in when MU gaurds are a little tired, and force them to work guarding Patterson.

No one is a bigger Zanna fan than I am, but I am ok with the number of touches/shots/minutes he got yesterday. He tied for most shots and had the most makes, 7-9. He was very effective. Any more could reach a point of diminishing returns.

Emel, Bet you loved it when Woodall hit Zanna with the long bomb and dunk fast break last night. It made me think of you, if we ever full court press outside of desperation you”ll have to send them a thank you note.

Bcar, Why shouldn’t Zanna touch more? 7for 9,anybody else more likely to score,anybody else even close?To stop it opens up a path for Adams and doesn’t diminish anything but the spastic offense we saw in the second half of the UC game.We are not a good 3 point shooting team and any potential for improvement offensively revolves around 3 players Adams,Zanna,and possibly Johnson. I am tired of waiting for the emergence of JJ Moore and think it is unlikely Patterson will make any substantial improvement. Robinson is not a scorer he is a playmaker. Woodall has moments but no way.If we are going to become a consistant offensive team the area of greatest potential improvement is obviously The two big guys, period. They can’t score more unless we get them more chances.I don’t understand why you would suggest that it would diminish anything that doesn’t need diminishing.We are not a good 3 point shooting team and other than Johnson or last minute emergencies I don’t think this team should be shooting them.

That G-Town sign obviously looked University produced as it done professionally.

Frickin hypocrits, had the 7 Catholic schools (and G-Town was a ringerleader of course)played ball with the football schools 10 years ago the BigEast wouldn’t have died. They insisted on scrub DePaul & Marquette. Not Pitt & the other football schools.

Good for them, they will become over the course of time, less and less relevant. As they already have since their heyday back in the 80’s.

With Pitt having 2 PG’s in the game at the same time a lot, those being Woodie & JR of course, we should invite teams to press us.

You get good at beating the press and scoring in transition, it’s a hell of lot easier than trying to score in the halfcourt. (especially with 3 bigmen who aren’t good at playing with back towards the basket)

Zanna as we’ve noticed has become a pretty good face up jump shooter. Adams needs to work on that little hook shot, lol. Sleepy well…he tries and sometimes gets some garbage.

emel As much as I hate to admit it I think you are right about the press.I think there is also no chance Dixon will use it.The reason I have done a flop on my position is that the few moments that we have actually pressed out of ergency it has been very effective.Speaking of flopping,our guys need to take a crash course in it before next season as it is a highly developed tactic in the ACC.

Steve 1,D Johnson releases his 3 point shot from a greater height than anybody on our team,he has great size and though he is far from a finished product I can imagine him making significant improvement and maybe playing at the next level.I am not saying he is any shoe in,but other than Zanna and Adams nobody on this team appears in my NBA crystal ball.

I was at the game last night and while they looked good, I think some other factors came into play. One, Pitt came out focused based on the last three games (losers of two). Two, it was a very poor showing from the fans. There was a man threatening to jump off the Key Bridge in Georgetown that prevented entering or leaving the area. I was picking up a buddy at one of the hotels and it took me almost two hours to go 2 miles. The student section was much emptier than usual and the quietest I’ve ever heard it. Georgetown never had a chance to feed off of the crowd.

I just want to see a larger sample size before I go all in again. Cam Wright looked good, Kiwi Stevie is still looks lost with his back to the basket but I can see why the scouts and Jamie are enamored by him. Zanna was in beast mode again and played tough at both ends of the court.

Emel I think you misunderstood my post,I wasn’t joking and if we ever do press flopping skills are vital.We wouldn’t have won the Oakland game without a great JJ Moore flop. I really think we should do it more.Last night we could have gotten to the line a lot more.You might think I’m funny but I am a flop science advocate.

I was at the Verizon, it was nutty, we had Let’s go Pitt cheers running through the half empty arena. Georgetown is horrible. It was a good win but I wouldn’t get overly excited about this team yet. We have a lot of building to do. Dixon needs to chill out a little bit. He needs to adjust, Pitt is getting more talented players now, he needs to adjust his coaching style and his temprement. The party at RFD with the Alumni Assoc., was fun, a lot of young kids. Fun to see a roomful of Pitt shirts.

Robinson has the potential to be a very good college guard. But NBA? Doubtful. Unless he has hidde athleticism, there’s no way. Adams on the other hand does so much on that doesn’t show up in the stat sheet. Let’s hope he’s not one and done.

Was at the game. just like the last two times, Pitt fans filled the upper bowl and made it a home crowd. And it was great seeing the DC kids play well at home. But as Omar said, we’ll get a better read on Saturday on how good this team is.

You can’t write off James Robinson being in the NBA. Dude is currently 4th in the nation in assist to turnover ratio as a true freshman, which I think makes him a pretty good college guard already. He is only going to get better as he gets older and gets in man shape.

Right now Zanna is projected to be the 50th pick in the 2014 draft. If he improves his game half as much in the upcoming year as he did in the past, he will get drafted.

By the way, I love Durand Johnson’s range. The kid can shoot from anywhere on the court.

I hated Georgetown, the neighborhood, in my D.C. days. Just couldn’t get past the ultra-snooty vibe. Lived in D.C. for nearly 12 years and the last 8 probably went to Georgetown twice and always left understanding why I didn’t like to go there.

Marquette is a poor 3 point shooting team and we should be able to hold them to less than 65 points,possibly under 60.If our bigs show up again we could put a serious smack on the golden eagles to go with the hoya thump.

You got to be able to change with the environment my Pitt brother. When in Rome do as the Romans.

I can just as easily transform from the University Club to a local shot and a beer bar in South Side (the little original ones hidden way off Carson) and converse and have a good time and make new friends.

Georgetown was cool cause of the density of good bars and restaurants. Although after looking at Billy Martin’s current menu, the prices have skyrocketed since I use to go there back in the 80’s. Oh… but there is no or little inflation, so Gov.co tells us.